At first I wanted to write a crack!fic about Drax, but then I thought out about his relationship with rest of the group and remembered this scene when he finally admits that other Guardians are his friends, at the same time calling them some slurs.

So enjoy!

Of calling your teammates names

Guardians could say many things about Drax the Destroyer. First of – he was a strong and skillful fighter, able to put down many enemies at once with his bare hands. He was also quite famous – in most places they landed, people were looking at him with certain amount of fear but also respect, because of the stories that were told all around the galaxy about his fighting skills and killing records. Peter was first to tell people that Drax wasn't a very subtle man – not because he was dumb or anything, he was just impulsive and believed in simple solutions, like punching somebody in the face. Rocket, on the other hand, admitted that Drax could be a good companion on drinking escapades, even though, while drunk, he could be unpredictable. Gamora had said once that Drax surprised her with his knowledge on many foreign customs. Groot (at least according to Rocket's interpretation) always liked about Drax that he could be very compassionate, especially towards somebody who had just lost their close ones.

Peter, Gamora, Rocket and Groot were fine with most of those things. However, there was one thing they didn't want to be fine with. It was driving them nuts sometimes, especially because Drax kept doing this from the day their little band was formed.

He was calling them names. He was calling Rocket a "rodent", Gamora – a "green whore", Groot – a "stupid tree", and Peter – a "terran weakling". At first they could find some hint of despise in his voice, but later those slurs gained some tones of… endearment. Probably Drax – being warrior at all – thought that comrades had right to insult each other and that something unacceptable outside their little crew, was fairly acceptable inside of it.

And, to be fair, other Guardians were no strangers to teasing or calling each other stupid … But here's the thing – Drax's insults weren't just traditional "stupid", "jackass" or even "pervert" that could be considered a teasing. They were actual slurs, used by people to demean others, no matter if it was a talking raccoon, a female or a human being.

It wasn't okay and other Guardians decided that Drax should stop doing that. So they were reminding him that he can't call them those names. Peter and Gamora – by sitting next to him and having a serious conversation about slurs and why they're bad; Groot – by shaking his head with disapproval, and Rocket – by pointing gun at Drax.

To be fair he was – slowly but still – learning. He stopped to call Rocket an "it" after that time on Knowere. Peter left them in the bar, watching rats (or whatever that things were) racing on the table, and suddenly Rocket was pointing gun at Drax in front of really big crowd.

"He thinks I'm some stupid thing! I didn't ask to be made! I didn't ask to be put into pieces and back, over and over! I didn't ask to be some little monster!"

In retrospect, Peter thought that this whole incident made Drax realize something about the raccoon, just like Star Lord have realized it, when he heard Rocket's rant. He didn't know what actually happened and why Drax called him an "it", but this sudden outburst of anger and despair was enough to see pain and self-loathing Rocket was hiding to this very moment.

Later, when Rocket was mourning the "loss" of Groot, Drax offered him a comforting hand. In that very moment they seemed to understand each other very well.

However, sometimes Drax was still forgetting that "vermin" and "rodent" was demeaning to Rocket too.

"What did you just called me?!" Rocket's screams echoed across the ship. There was even sounds of things crashing on the "Milano's" walls.

But Peter was giving Drax credit for at least being apologetic to the little fellow.

"I'm sorry! I… Wait, what Star Lord always says? Ah, yes. It was a slip of the tongue… But you're funny, when you're angry." Drax added with a smile.

Maybe – since Drax loved a good fight – he was teasing him, so the raccoon will give him an opportunity to let some steam in friendly beating. It's not that Rocket was aiming specifically to kill or seriously injure the guy. Even without Peter's intervention, they both knew that you don't hurt your companion.

Drax tried to pull this off with Groot or Peter… but the Groot was just staring at him with disappointment (which, sooner or later, was making Drax feel ashamed) and Peter was telling him: "Not cool, man." Soon Drax realized that there's no point in provoking them, because they simply can't be provoked (unless, of course, someone was touching Peter's stuff, but – oddly enough – Drax didn't dare to, knowing about walkman being a gift from Quill's dead mother).

Gamora was a bit different case. Drax had a personal issue with her, due to her being one of Ronan's underlings and Thanos' "daughters". Even though, Peter convinced Drax not to kill Gamora and he actually considered her a friend, the big guy still called her a "green whore". Sometimes Peter wondered if Drax still was thinking about her as former Thanos' hound. There was also the fact that – unlike with Groot, Rocket or Peter – he wasn't calling her names in playful manner, but mostly when he was pissed.

However, the more Guardians of the Galaxy were traveling together; the more he was trusting her with his life and life of the others, and the more he began to admire her as a fighter, the less slurs were coming out from his mouth. It was still happening, but when he realized what he just said, sooner or later, he was apologizing to her.

Guardians knew that Drax had a heart in right place; that he didn't mean all those things he was saying; that he really cared for his teammates… But it was sometimes hard to remember about that, when another slur came out from his mouth.

Still…

The Guardians were just walking on the streets of Knowhere, which was really crowded in this time of the day, when suddenly some big, testosterone-packed guy bumped into Peter. He looked at Star Lord and bared his teeth.

"Watch where you're going, Terran scum!" He said… and right after that he felt a peak of Drax's knife on his chin.

"Excuse me, what did you call my friend, again?" In spite of being shorter than him, Drax managed to invoke the right emotion – fear. The man quickly retreated and that's the last they've seen of him.

They were sitting in some bar, enjoying well-deserved entertainment after really long, tiresome and dangerous mission. Drax was sent for some drinks, while Gamora, Peter, Rocket and Groot were chilling at the table, talking about random things. Suddenly a bunch of tentacle aliens (probably gang members, judging by the similar tattoos on their heads) came to their table, eyeing them with mixture of amusement and arrogance.

"Get the fuck out of here, vermin! That's my seat!" Said one of the gangsters, who was standing near Rocket.

Rocket's eyes narrowed as he hissed angrily. Probably he would give the guy taste of his teeth, but Drax came back just in time to hear what gangster were saying. He left the drinks on the nearest table (giving people sitting there a look that told them: "If you drink it, you will die.") and pocked the guy on a shoulder. The tentacle gangster turned around to see, who's there, and his face met with Drax's fist. They started to fight but even with tentacles gangster was no match for Drax the Destroyer and soon he was lying on the floor, covered with blue blood. Drax was sitting on him, his hands on gangster's throat, as he said between breaths:

"My friend… is not… a vermin. Do you… understand… bastard?"

The gangster nodded. Only then Drax stood up, took the drinks and sat next to the rest of the Guardians like nothing happened.

Hand of the Xandarian guarding the entrance made Groot stop.

"I'm sorry, but we don't allow… life forms like that in our club." The Xandarian explained. He looked at the tree with disgust.

"Why?" Rocket asked, eyeing the man angrily.

"Mister Pel Dar, the owner of our club, doesn't want his guests to be disturbed…" Another disgusted gaze. "…by freaks."

Once again Rocket wanted to give the smartass the lesson, but Drax was first.

"But there is a small problem." He said rather calmly.

"Yeah?" The Xandarian's eyebrows raised. "What kind of a problem?"

Drax took his arm and grabbed it in the way that suddenly Xandarian had it on his back, in tight grip of Drax, threatening to break it with one swift move.

"Our friend goes with us." Drax replied.

"Please, please, don't hurt me! I only work here!" The man cried.

"So can our friend come in?" Drax asked.

"Yes, yes! Just leave me alone!"

Drax released him and Xandarian let them in.

Another bar, this time on some background planet they couldn't remember the name of…

"Hey, it's Gamora! What are you doing here, Thanos' bitch?"

Gamora sighed. She was hoping for so cold beer and relatively peaceful evening with their teammates, but they've already found out that news were coming rather slowly to this lousy planet. And even if some people have heard about Guardians of the Galaxy, they had hard time believe that Gamora isn't "Thanos' bitch", anymore.

So she was sitting at the bar, when the boys decided to collectively use the bathroom, and this idiot showed up.

"Hey, Thanos' bitch, would you like to taste some steel?"

Still, she decided to just ignore the guy. He seemed to be a normal humanoid that just happened to have a knife but lacked the skill to hold it properly, so Gamora thought that using her skills on him would be a waste of time and energy.

But the guy was persisting.

"Maybe we should find out how she's looking without those clothes. I didn't have a woman for three months and that green whore is as good as any other!"

On second thought, Gamora decided to practice few moves on that asshole. After all, if he didn't have a self-preservation instinct, it was his problem. She was going to stood up, when…

"Excuse me." Some calm voice said behind her offender.

Well – she thought, smiling lightly. – boys need some fun too.

The guy, who called her "bitch", turned around and saw Drax standing in front of him, arms folded on his chest. The guy recognized him immediately and smiled sheepishly under Drax's stern gaze.

"Oh… it's… it's a pleasure to meet you."

Drax, at first, didn't say anything. He only kicked him in his manly parts and dropped his massive elbow on guy's back. Only when he was cowering with pain, the Destroyer had spoken:

"Call my friend a 'bitch' again and I will eat your testicles on breakfast and make you watch. Do you understand?"

The guy only nodded.

That was the moment when Peter, Rocket and Groot came out to see the his humiliation. After a brief few seconds of looking at him, they just joined Gamora at the table. She, on the other hand, couldn't help but smile.

Again – Drax probably thought that he had a right to insult his comrades, for this particular reason that they were his comrades. But he also, apparently, considered it his exclusive privilege.